The preliminary survey of 805 unions affiliated with Rengo showed the average hike rate of 11,844 yen ($89) per month, according to the labour organisation.

While changes in the way the survey is conducted make it difficult to compare with historical data before 2013, the average pay hike of more than 3% is achieved for the first time since 1994, Rengo officials told a news conference on the spring wage talks.

     Top Japanese firms agreed to their largest pay rises in a quarter century at the talks that wrapped up on Wednesday, heeding, at least for now, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's call for higher wages to offset rising living costs. 

Rengo, also known as the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, will update the pay negotiation results in several stages before compiling the final results in summer.

($1 = 133.0700 yen)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Tetsushi Kajimoto, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

By Kantaro Komiya and Tetsushi Kajimoto